Inspired by Ben Sand’s song “Here Comes The Day” on his album “Troubadour”, I decided it was time after 18 years of recording Caim albums for me to record a solo CD – the first one since 1994!

Thank you to Brian Hughes (and Megan & Liz), Ciaran Dorris and Kate Kramer for your friendship, time in the studio and for listening to the early stages of the recording process and giving much appreciated advice on the song arrangements.

Special thanks to Phil Hare for his amazing (as always) guitar arrangements on “Rainbow Days and Firework Nights”, Paddy’s Green Shamrock Shore” and “Rannoch”. Thank you too to Derek Richardson and to my loyal friends in Caim, Jacynth Hamill and Pauline Vallance, for adding their music to complete the album. And of course thank you to Stuart and Gillian Duncan at Red Barn Studios for their patience, skill and support for this project.

It’s taken nearly two years to complete “Here Comes the Day” but I’m happy with the final result – I hope you think it was worth the wait!

Here comes the day, a day like no otherA moment in time, a trick of the lightA line from a play that goes on foreverWe each have a part and we hope it’s alright on the night

Here comes the sun – so good to see you!Chasing the clouds, warming the groundAnd now that you’ve come, there’s hope on the menuWe’ll do what we can to spread your light aroundSome days it’s hard to keep smilingSome days it’s hard to stand tallBut yesterday’s troubles are fadingNew light shines down on us all.

And look at the flower, blooming in splendourBeing the best flower it can beShowing the world the most it can offerThe rose, the dandelion, you and meOh what a mighty adventureComes every day with the dawnNobody knows what the day bringsWe just know too soon it will be gone.

Repeat 1

We each have a part and we hope it’s alright on the night.

I was given Ben’s CD “Troubadour” as a Christmas present in 2015 and was inspired to record this album – my first solo CD since 1994 – on listening to his songs – especially the positive lyrics in “Here Comes The Day” which I’ve made the title track. Singing the lyrics of “Here comes the Day” in my head is a great way to wake up in the morning!

WHERE ARE YOU TONIGHT(Andy M Stewart)

Chorus:Where are you tonight I wonderAnd where will you be tonight when I cry?Will sleep for you come easy,Though I alone can’t slumberWill you welcome in the morningAt another man’s side?

How easy for you the years slipped underAnd left me a shadow the sun can’t dispelI built for you a tower of love and admirationBut I set you so high I could not reach myself.

I look through my window at a world filled with strangersThe face in my mirror is the one face I knowYou have taken all that’s in me, so my heart is in no dangerMy heart is in no danger, but I’d still like to know

If there is a silence then it can be brokenIf there beats a pure heart to her I will goAnd time will work its healing and the spirit will grow strongerAh, but in the meantime I’d still like to know.Where are you tonight? …

I recorded this song on my first ever album “All is Fair in Love and War” in 1989. When Andy M Stewart died at the end of 2015, journalist and friend John O Regan suggested I record it again – so here it is. I loved singing this again with Stuart’s sensitive piano backing & a touch of pipes from Derek Richardson.

PADDY’S GREEN SHAMROCK SHORE(Trad.)

From Derry quay we sailed away on the twenty-third of MayWe were taken on board by a pleasant crew, bound for AmerikayFresh water then we did take on, five thousand gallons or moreIn case we’d run short going to New York far away from the shamrock shore.

Then fare thee well, sweet Liza dear and likewise unto Derry townAnd twice farewell to my comrades brave that dwell on that sainted groundIf fame or fortune shall favour me, and I to have money in storeI’ll go back and I’ll wed the wee lassie I left on Paddy’s green shamrock shore.

At twelve o’clock we came in sight of famous Mullin HeadAnd Innistrochlin to the right stood out on the ocean’s bed.A grander sight ne’er met my eyes than e’er I saw beforeThan the sun going down ‘twixt sea and sky far away from the shamrock shore.

We sailed three weeks, we were all seasick, not a man on board was freeWe were all confined unto our bunks and no-one to pity poor me.No father kind nor mother dear to lift up my head, which was soreWhich made me think more on the lassie I left on Paddy’s green shamrock shore.

We safely reached the other side after fifteen and twenty days,We were taken as passengers by a man and led round in six different ways,Then each of us drank a parting glass, in case we’d meet no moreAnd we drank a health to old Ireland and Paddy’s green shamrock shore.

By a miracle of timing I reconnected with a friend after thirty years at a recent folk festival. Pádraig always sang this song in sessions and that is how I recognised him again! So – I decided to record a slightly more traditional version for you Pádraig.

CHAIN OF SONG(Martin Simon Donnelly)

I’m not too old to dance or too young to dieOn these broken wings I’ve even learned to flyAs November moans round the empty floorOf this windmill ruin outside my door.

Chorus:Where the blackbird sings in the early mornBetween the Holy night and the Golden dawnIn a chain of song that runs deep and wideThrough the mists of time to the other side.

When I was young I knew everythingWith a certainty only youth can bringAfter sixty years absolutes are goneAnd the certainties take a different form

I’ve never known fame or wealthAnd at times I’ve been a stranger to myselfSomethings have changed and some remainBut so many things will never be the same

So take to the floor while you have the chanceWhile the music plays you can dance your danceSometimes the fool is the wisest oneSometimes it takes the old to be truly young.

I first heard Martin sing this song among others in his concert at Fiddlers Green Festival, Rostrevor in 2016 and rushed out to the nearest cash machine to withdraw enough money to buy all his CDs ( well 3 of them!). After living with the wise words in this song on my car stereo ever since I just had to try singing it myself.

Night drifted in from a world of fireCovered the dark in a veil of starsAnd everything went silent with the sound.Heaven’s turning standing stillRight now, you might not know it, but you willWe’re standing on sacred ground.

Comes the wind it blows the seedComes the sun it grows the treesAnd everything we need keeps coming round.Could take minutes, could take yearsOr it might even be right here, right nowWe’re standing on sacred ground.

Chorus

Where life’s treasures all are foundLay me down beneath this sacred ground

I went along to a Kieran Goss evening in Dunfermline last year. Kieran was in the folk music world in Northern Ireland way back when I lived there and I hadn’t heard him sing for many years but I knew it would be a great night and I was right. Subsequently I bought a couple of Kieran’s CDs and discovered this gem of a song. The title lyrics reminded me of a Christian music conference in Australia many years ago when we were told “We’re standing on sacred ground!” Thank you to Kate Kramer for suggesting the backing arrangement of drum and fiddle and adding her inspired fiddle melody.

Take the roadFrom Coshieville to Rannoch,Schiehallion under cloud – in autumn,Take wilderness and water,Narrow winding from nowhere to nowhere.

Take colour, colour, colour,Deepened by wet,Rich breathing tapestry:Artist take blendingMatch it if you can –Bracken-brown to yellow fern tipSpringing on leaves, shading to gold, orange, redAnd its pure essence in rowans hanging earthward,Miss a beat of colour – jumpTo lacquer-black in elderberries.

Take pattern imposed on pattern,Leaf shape on branch,Branch-angle on treesTrees against a rising patchworkTo where high-hill-ridgesAre irregular moving shapesAgainst flying ragged grey.

Take contrast intricate as the universe;Bright-limned against darkYet always making a wholeNo falseness anywhere;See those distant sheep,Pale as river pearls!Look up at the dark, dying heatherMarked by streaking silverLike an ageing woman’s hair.

Lower, black peat poolsHide in tawny reedsAnd grey sheets of waterWatch cushions of mossSphagnum-green as elf-light.Under the trees the forest carpetTakes the colour of pheasant’s wings.

Black wood stands dark and proudHiding eagle tales and songUnscathed for two thousand yearsHere I yearn to belong.

Chorus

I wrote “Rannoch” a number of years ago when Rannoch was (and still is) a favourite place of mine.

BROTHER LAWRENCE(Prior/Kemp)

There’s a rush in the kitchen, there’s monks in the hallIt’s past time for dinner, they’re silent monks allThe cook is a good man with ladle and plateHe will not be rushed in the steam and the heatThough a simple man, he just seemed to knowAs it is above, so it is below

He hums to himself all the hymns he has knownWhile he pulls up the leeks, they’re so carefully grownHe doesn’t like chapel bent down on his kneesJust wasting his time with these words and decrees.

He does all his work in the presence of the LordHe is praying while salting the monks’ holy foodHe fights the good fight with utensils as a swordHe is peeling potatoes to the glory of God

I’ve always loved this song sung by Maddy Prior – Brother Lawrence is my kind of Christian! Maddy’s notes on her CD “Flesh and Blood” give the background information; Brother Lawrence was born Nicolas Herman of humble parentage in Lorraine, eastern France in about 1611. He became a monk and served as a monastery cook for thirty years. This was not a job he liked but he rose above his discontent. His method of communion was to listen. Thanks to Pauline & Jacynth in Caim for giving this the unique “Caim” treatment!

WADE IN THE WATER(Pernille & Quigg. PRS/MCPS)

See the girl with her blue jeans rolled upStepping into the ocean for the first time in her lifeWas it as blue as you had dreamed it would be?In a land full of fences can you ever be free?

Chorus:Wade in the waterWade in the water childrenWade in the waterGod’s gonna trouble the water

See the guards as you cross the lineA border that has split your land in sorrow and bloodPretending to protect they segregate and divideBut today on this beach you’re swimming side by side.

See the sun setting on the westThe mermaids call and Cinderella leaves the ball,Was there eve a trip to the seasideSo bravely delivered in as shameful a time?

After hearing Pernille bravely sing this song in Quarter Acoustic Music Club I asked her if I could record it too. It was inspired by an article about the journalist Llana Hammerman, an Israeli woman, who smuggled Palestinian women out of the occupied territories for them to experience a day at the seaside – a day to remember for women who may never have seen the ocean before. The chorus is an old spiritual of the same name. My version of Pernille’s song is slightly different – again my favourite a capella style but with emotive fiddle backing from Kate Kramer.

Gonna live my life in technicolourGonna write my name in the shining lightsFar away from the shady shadowsRainbow days and firework nightsRainbow days and firework nights

This big wide worldIs sometimes dull and drearyIt’s often tired and wearyAnd it pulls me down.But now I seeI’m headed where I want to beTo taste a slice of heaven before the sun goes down.

Chorus

For far too longI danced to someone else’s songAnd hardly noticed all alongHow time slips byI’ll stretch my wingsFeel what flying freely bringsAnd live each day with passion til the sun goes down.

Chorus

I’ve a big blank pageAn open road, an empty stageI want to paint the picturesThat come to my mindFull steam aheadGod knows we’re a long time deadI’ll keep the wheels a turning till the sun goes down.

Chorus

Another of Ben’s songs – this time from his CD “Take My Love with You”. The lyrics of “Rainbow Days and Firework Nights” could have been describing my life! I had to sing this song!

THE RIVER (Song for Mary)(Len Wade)

I sit by the river as it flows to the seaIt sparkles and sings with a joy that is freeFrom the mountains it grows in the mists high aboveThen passes on down with thoughts of my love.

A swan glides on by and the reeds gently waveIt’s beauty a vision, is it angel or knave?It’s the eyes of the river, a white cloud floating byLike the eyes of my love are the blue of the sky.

The river is warmed by the sun’s early glowThe fowl on the water, the fish down belowAre part of the river, united as oneLike the gold of her hair, and the gold of the sun.

River as you flow, tell me what do you see?My true love and I, will we ever be free?To join with the fowl, the fish, and the swanTo walk life together, forever as one.

All life is seen, and is then cast awayMirrored and clear, what price must you payFor dreams of tomorrow, that by hope have been fannedAnd then lost in my waters, as I wash through the land.

I sat by the river as it flowed to the seaAnd thought of the love that will now never beFrom the mountains it grew, there warmed by the sunAnd then sailed away in the heart of the swanAnd then sailed away with the heart of the swan.

I recorded this song on my CD with Ciaran Dorris “Waiting for the Calm” to fulfil a promise I made to the late Len Wade in 1992 who wrote the beautiful lyrics and melody, ideal for an a capella singer. I’ve added it again, slightly re mixed, to this CD as I can’t imagine a solo set of mine without it!

BITZY’S GONE VIRAL(Heather Innes. Jan 2016)

Chorus:I’m a viral cat playing in the snowNot a feral puss I’ll have you know!And I’m world famous!

They took my picture the other dayWhen most cats were ‘fraid to go out and playCovered from my tail to my eyesIn that cold, white stuff from the sky.

I was posted on facebook that very night“My poor Bitzy” they said,And laughed out loud at my furry plight.“So cute”, “So classic!” “Oh what a sight.”

Well your “poor Bitzy’s” gone viralTo cat lovers in US and OzBut there’s one thing I want you all to knowThis is NOT my first time in the snow

I’m no kitten tho I look “sweet”I’m your Christmas card image- what a treat!I’m nine years old and that’s a factWith all my nine lives intact.

I’m a Viral cat playing in the snowNot a feral puss I’ll have you know!And I’m world famous!Fifty likes on one page alone!

I shared a photo of my friends Fin and Rosemary’s cat “Bitzy” on facebook when Bitzy was covered from her tail to her eyes in the snow one winter and watched my friends in Australia and USA share the picture on their pages – Bitzy went viral in a way my songs never do and I thought there might be a song in there so I used all the comments on Bitzy’s post in the lyrics. I have my music partner and friend Ciaran Dorris to thank for the play on the words viral and feral!

Lone man paces slowly along the shore lineOnly he knows what he’s searching forThe sun arrives and the scene is transformed by lightGrey and silver water turned bright white

Chorus

Through my open window waves give backing to the songsTwo dogs chase seagulls into the lightCouples pass by their faces red with coldSeabird cries aloud in its plight

Chorus

Time to go home now but I’ll return another daySeeking the peace of this deserted shoreSummer crowds this beach but that’s not for meI love winter by the sea.

Chorus

The deserted sea shore in winter is a favourite place for me so I decided to observe and write what I saw whilst sitting by the open sea one winter’s afternoon in Ayr, Scotland. After a bit of persuasion the prose became a song and Pauline Vallance added the finishing touches to the melody.

LIVING IN WALTZ TIME(Colin Pitts MCPS/PRS)

You woke up this morning, cursing the clockYou said how you wished things could changeYou’d like to go back to how it was thenBut these things you can’t re-arrangeYou can only turn the next page – and try

Chorus:Living in waltz time dancing close togetherLiving in waltz time the band plays the tuneLiving in waltz time like birds of a featherLiving in waltz time by the light of the moon

There’s a man I know keeps drilling the wallEight hundred holes and still countingIf he keeps going the house will surely fallAnd rain will pour in like a fountainMaybe he could drill through a mountain – He could try

Chorus

There are those who have to reach the top of the ladderWhile some must stay on the groundMost of us are happy to get half way upWhich is not the same as half way downJust wait for the tune to come around and try

Chorus

Sometimes I try not to read all the newsAnd some days I’m not so surePrices go up while money goes downBut at least we can still close the doorAnd put our best foot to the floor – and try

Chorus x 2

Living in waltz time by the light of the moon.

Colin saw on facebook that I was recording this CD and immediately messaged me to see if I needed a song or two from him. I recorded Colin’s songs on two previous albums and am delighted to carry on the tradition with this one which brings back memories of my father teaching me to waltz when I was young. As Colin says on his own recording of “Living in Waltz Time” – you can see more when you travel a bit slower.

Lorna sent me this poem of hers which was inspired by the song “Prayer” which she’d heard me sing over the years. She never expected to hear it read in my concerts and then on a program of mine at WXPR radio station in Wisconsin, USA. I’m guessing this recording will be a surprise too. Be careful what you send me Lorna!

PRAYER (Adapted from a Native American prayer by Josh Bogin – from “Caim Celidh” ClunieCD 04)

The curtain of daybreak it is hangingThe wind it whispers a morning graceBefore the sky you will find me standingLet me live in this holy place

In the house of freedom there I’ll wanderIn the house of life shall I pass my daysIn old age travelling there I’ll wanderWalk with me in this holy place

Homeward now down this road I’ll wanderWhere my soul’s long lines are deeply tracedHomeward now shall I make my journeyLo yonder this holy place.

THE WATER IS WIDE(Trad.)

The water is wide I cannot cross o’erAnd neither have I wings to flyGive me a boat that can carry twoAnd both shall row my love and I.

I leaned my back against an oakThinking it was a trusty treeBut first it bent and then it brokeSo did my love prove false to me

For love is gentle and love is kindThe sweetest flower when first tis newBut love grows old and waxes coldAnd fades away like morning dew

There is a ship and she sails the seaShe’s loaded deep as deep can beBut not as deep as this love I’m inI know not ere I sink or swim

For the water is wide I cannot cross o’erAnd neither have I wings to flyGive me a boat that can carry twoAnd both shall row my love and I.

I’ve been singing “The Water is Wide” for years in sessions and concerts and it became the best song to sing with guitarist Brian Hughes in the Athole Sessions in Dunkeld so it made sense to record it here with Brian. Dedicated to the late Rev Nick Beddow of Escomb who wouldn’t let a concert of mine go by in his parish without requesting I sing this song.

SLOW DOWN MY FRIEND (Martin Simon Donnelly)

Slow down my friend no need to runYou know you are held in the warmth of the sunWhen fear grips your heart and there’s no time to prayNo time to breathe to watch or to pray

Chorus:Just take my hand where the wild primrose growsWe’ll sit by the stream and watch the time flowWatch the time flow with the eyes of the heartWhere past becomes future and future the pastWhere flower becomes seed and seed becomes leafAnd leaf becomes flower and there’s no sense of grief.

Slow down my friend, who’s chasing who?Who’s to impress with the things that you do?The wise Gods of Time they have their own planThey cannot be rushed by machine or man.

Chorus

Some more wise lyrics from Martin Donnelly! I decided to slow everything down and record this completely a cappella – my favourite style of singing.